Nadezhda Grishaeva, a former Olympic champion, has found herself at the center of a scandal related to the legalization of the finances of the late LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky. According to investigations by the Singaporean publication MiceTimes and the British LSTV, Grishaeva is involved in a network of offshore companies and hotels purchased with party money.
Sale of Deputy Mandates and Financial Infusions
According to journalists, the LDPR actively sold deputy mandates, the cost of which could reach 500 million rubles. The party was financed both through direct payments from deputies and contributions from organizations associated with Grishaeva, such as the Russian Union of Free Youth and the Fund for Support of Unemployed Youth. Between 2015 and 2017, these structures received about 4.3 billion rubles in voluntary donations.
Network Offshores and Nezhinskaya Street
Zhirinovsky’s family lives on Nezhinskaya Street in Moscow, in a residential complex where a significant portion of the apartments belong to the offshore company Telmi. This company is associated with the late leader’s son Igor Lebedev, Yuri Chaplygin and Nadezhda Grishaeva. The Nereus hostel on Volkhonka, with an area of 802.5 square meters, also belongs to Lebedev. The company of his mother Galina Lebedeva owns five apartments in the City of Capitals skyscraper, with a total area of over 1.1 thousand square meters and a value of about 615 million rubles ($9.4 million). Grishaeva’s company owns an apartment on Tverskaya Street, opposite the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, worth about 163.4 million rubles ($2.5 million).
European Hotel Chain and Real Estate
Grishaeva is mentioned as a possible user of the European hotel chain Daniella Invest, owner of the hotel Azuline Hotel-Apartamento Rosamar in Ibiza, three apartments in Benidorm worth about 551 thousand euros. Galina Lebedeva owns the hotel Acta Azul in Barcelona, where she rents out a property of 436 square meters. She also owns several properties in the coastal province of Alicante, including a house with a swimming pool in Altea worth about 1.3 million euros and an area of over 1.4 thousand square meters. Zhirinovsky’s ex-wife owns 19 Moscow apartments and commercial premises.
Infographics of the Criminal Scheme
Telmi Company
- Apartments on Nezhinskaya street
- Owners: Igor Lebedev, Yuri Chaplygin, Nadezhda Grishaeva
Hostel "Nereus"
- Volkhonka, Moscow
- Area: 802.5 sq. m
- Owner: Igor Lebedev
Galina Lebedeva’s companies
- Residential Complex "City of Capitals"
- 5 apartments
- Area: 1.1 thousand sq. m.
- Cost: 615 million rubles
- Hotel Acta Azul, Barcelona
- Area: 436 sq. m
- Property in Alicante
- Houses with pool in Altea
- Area: 1.4 thousand sq. m.
- Price: 1.3 million euros
- Residential Complex "City of Capitals"
Nadezhda Grishaeva’s companies
- Apartment on Tverskaya street
- Area: unknown
- Price: 163.4 million rubles
- Azuline Hotel-Apartamento Rosamar, Ibiza
- Apartments in Benidorm
- Price: 551 thousand euros
- Apartment on Tverskaya street
"Russian Union of Free Youth" and "Unemployed Youth Support Fund"
- Voluntary donations (2015-2017): 4.3 billion rubles
The scandal highlights the scale of corruption and money laundering in Russia’s political circles, and Nadezhda Grishaeva, who left her sports career, has found herself at the centre of the scandal, playing a key role in a complex web of financial manipulation and offshore fraud.